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dickTed

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My last brew has been in secondary for over a week now, and hasn't stopped fermenting yet. I got sick of waiting for it and went and got another fermenter. Went to the Eskay Rd shop. Nice, it has a handle on the lid. - The fermenter, not the shop.

Anyway, I grabbed a 500g bag of crystal malt.

So I've got a Coopers Sparkling Ale kit, a 1.25kg jar of LLME (two in fact, but I'll only use one), the crystal, plenty of saaz, and a packet of Safale 04.

The new fermenter is standing in the laundry sink full to the brim with White King.

About to go and boil the strainer, can opener and scissors.

Any suggestions on how long to simmer the crystal?
 
PLease please do not simmer the crystal grain. Steep the cracked grain for about 1/2 an hour in some water at 40-60 deg, (you are not mashing, just steeping so no need for special temp control), with the resulting fluid, boil gently for at least 30 minutes, and add this to the fermneter.

Boiling crystal grain extracts tannins. This gives nasty harsh flavours in your beer.

Use about 250 gms crystal in a brew, if you like the flavour, bump it up a bit next time. Steep in a litre of hot water. No need to rinse with more water, and do not squeeze the grain to get every last drop out.
 
Thanks for that. OK I'll soak it in warm water, strain then boil.
 
pint of lager said:
PLease please do not simmer the crystal grain. Steep the cracked grain for about 1/2 an hour in some water at 40-60 deg, (you are not mashing, just steeping so no need for special temp control), the resulting fluid, boil gently for at least 30 minutes, and add this to the fermneter.

Boiling crystal grain extracts tannins. This gives nasty

Use about 250 gms crystal in a brew, if you like the flavour, bump it up a bit next time. Steep in a litre of hot water. No need to rinse with more water, and do not squeeze the grain to get every last drop out.
[post="53086"][/post]​
Was in a HB store in Brisbane 2 weeks ago and the HB store guy was telling a customer to squeeze the grain bag to get all the sugar out. Anyway later in the conversation I mentioned you should never squeeze the grain bag and the HB guy looked shocked and asked why so I explained it to them both.

:ph34r: Beware the HB store guys advice......
 
Boiling crystal grain extracts tannins. This gives nasty harsh flavours in your beer.

Very interested in this comment, Mr Lager.

I attempted a Caffrey's Irish Ale clone with recipe from Brewcraft.Caffrey's recipe

Anyway the Brewcraft Kit #70 Converter definitely contains what looks like crystal malt.

My notes from it's instructions are:

Boiled 2.0 Litres of Water + #70 English Bitter Kit + 500g of Light Dried Malt
Instructions according to Kit. 20mins boil + 1 min boil (hops) + 10 mins (steep)

When I tried it the other day after two weeks in the bottle. I had very harsh bitter "metallic" taste. Very unpleasant and I couldn't drink it all. Waited another week before opening and the harshness had almost disappeared. Will try again next week.

This looks like another case of "Don't listen to the HB store guys!".

unless it's the Grape and Grain guys in Maidstone, Melbourne.

Cheers BK.
 
What have you got planned for the Saaz dickTed?
Dry hop? how much?

Just wondering 'cause i've never been successful dry hopping ales with saaz. Always tasted like the back end of a lawnmower.

Had success with Goldings, Cascade & Hallertau in the past when doing kits. 20 - 50g usual addition depending on mood at the time. Primary or secondary hasn't made made a huge difference.

Anybody use anything else for kit ales?
 
Lucky you mentioned that scmick, I recall reading that about saaz somewhere else on this forum. I used 20g already, but will also be dry hopping, which is a week off yet.

Thanks for the alert call. I'll get some Hellertau or Cascade.

I can still smell porridge right through the house.
 
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